


The Fine Line Between Love and Hate

by godbless_shitposting



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Barry and Len have a heart-to-heart, But takes place much later, Caitlin isn't Killer Frost, Eddie isn't dead, It gets a little feelsy but it's all good in the end, Just let my children be alive and happy, Len isn't dead, Let's be honest I just tweaked the plot of the episode a little bit, M/M, Sort of based on S1E8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-12 21:23:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11745456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/godbless_shitposting/pseuds/godbless_shitposting
Summary: A metahuman that effects the mind in a way that's eerily similar to how Roy G. Bivolo did to the citizens of Central City years ago builds up so much hatred in Barry that he threatens to kill Leonard Snart, who realizes that’s not the Barry Allen he knows and loves.





	The Fine Line Between Love and Hate

Fury flared throughout Barry. Snart stood outside the Central City Museum, smirking with his cold gun in his hand. It was pointed directly at Barry. Well, Cisco didn't mention that it was a little too far to the left to actually hit Barry, but he didn't think it worth mentioning. Barry could only see the world in red. Literally.

"I am going to kill you."

But let's back up.

Earlier that day, reports of fights breaking out between civilians in northern Central City had been pouring into CCPD. Most of the detectives were out of the precinct. In fact, all that was left was Captain Singh, Eddie Thawne, Julian Albert, and, of course, Barry Allen.

Barry and Julian hadn't even noticed that anything was going on until Eddie stormed into their lab.

"I'm a good cop, right?"

"Yes, _do_ come in, Detective Thawne," Julian sneered.

"Shut up, Julian," Barry shot back. "You're a fine cop, Eddie. Why do you ask?"

"I'm the last one left in the precinct. Singh isn't letting me get out for this... madness," Eddie sighed. Barry and Julian both looked at him with confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Julian demanded. Eddie mirrored his look.

"You CSIs are really underappreciated, aren't you?"

"Yeah, Singh never tells us anything," Barry answered.

"North Central is full of people randomly breaking into riots and trying to murder each other. Every other officer in the CCPD is there, but Singh wants me stay behind."

"I thought the election was over," Barry joked. Eddie laughed and Julian crossed his arms. He didn't seem to get it. Barry figured that he probably wasn't completely familiar with the backwards way America worked. Despite being amused, Eddie shook his head.

“That’s what everyone thought at first, too,” he began. “So we only sent out a few people to break them up. Then there were more fights, and then the officers noticed that the victims’ irises were… red.” Both Julian and Barry’s eyebrows shot up.

“Red?” Julian breathed.

“Are we dealing with Bivolo again?” Barry asked. This wasn’t the first time that a metahuman had flashed red into people’s minds to make them uncontrollably angry. Barry remembered how he’d fought Oliver. Eddie shook his head once more.

“That was the first thing we checked. He’s still cozy in Iron Heights.”

“So we’re dealing with _another_ rage-inducing meta?”

“Wait, _another?_ This has happened before?” Julian interrupted. Barry and Eddie nodded. Julian scoffed. “This is insane. When can we go out so we can try to ID this guy?”

“As far as I can tell, whenever these fights get calmed down. Hopefully that’s soon.”

~

“Barry, you’re not gonna believe what her name is,” Cisco said, chuckling. Barry sped over to him.

“You IDed… her?” Barry asked. He’d been expecting it be a man. Cisco nodded.

“Her name’s Ruby Harris.”

“ _Ruby?_ ” Iris laughed. “That’s funny.” Barry rolled his eyes.

“Whatever her name is, she needs to be stopped. She’s a more powerful Bivolo. Only two of the victims have gone out of their rage,” he pressed.

“I’ve told Detective Thawne to call me if he finds a connection when he interviews the recovered victims,” Julian offered. “And I’ll have all of you know that rubies can be different colors than red. They can be blue, as sapphires can be red.” Cisco scoffed.

“Alright, I’d tell you to get the stick out of your ass, but I’m guessing it’s a rock based on that statement.” Barry and Iris brought their hands to their mouth to hide their laughing. Julian frowned. Just as he was about to fire back, his phone started to ring.

“Hello?” … “Really?” … “That’s strange.” … “Yeah, we’ve IDed the meta. A woman named Ruby Harris. We don’t know much about her, yet.” … “Of course, Detective West. Goodbye.” Barry and Iris straightened at Joe’s name.

“Wasn’t Eddie supposed to call you?” Barry asked.

“He was preoccupied. He had to take care of some victims who were going at it,” Julian explained. “Not fighting. More like… well…” Cisco’s eyes widened.

“Oh,” he simply said.

“Though, on the bright side, that’s how the anger stops. The victims calmed down when they were in contact with their significant other.” Cisco spoke up.

“Alright, I found Harris. Let’s see, 34 years old… Policy Debate National Champion sophomore and senior year of high school, nice… Ah! She used to be a couples’ counselor,” he explained. “She went missing for two months after the particle accelerator explosion-” Julian sighed with relief “-and resumed her job like normal, that is until two weeks ago. She went crazy on a couple of her clients. They ended up making up and avoiding a bad divorce, but _she_ figured she could wreak havoc by… pulling a Bivolo.”

“Shall I call Detective West, then?” Julian asked.

“No need,” Joe called as he walked into the lab. Barry walked over to him.

“What are you doing here? I’m sure Singh needs all hands on deck at the precinct,” Barry said. Joe shrugged.

“They’ve got most of them calmed down after calling significant others. But some of them aren’t dating anyone, which makes things a bit awkward,” he explained.

“We need to do some brain scans and see if it’s the same thing we were up against with Bivolo. I mean, there’s a possibility that we could shine the lights in their eyes and they’d be fine like we did with Barry after he beat the shit out of the Green Arrow,” Cisco mused, smiling fondly as he remembered. Saying that Cisco _hated_ Oliver Queen was an understatement. Barry crossed him arms.

“Not my fault.”

Joe shook his head. “We tried that. The people who weren’t single didn’t show anything. The people who were won’t stay down long enough and giving them a sedative would mess everything up.”

“Then let me do it,” Barry interjected. All eyes turned to him. “I’ve done it before. It’ll take some time to get to me, so you guys can go ahead and scan me. Then you can put me in the Pipeline and shine those lights when I go all Hulk.” Cisco and Iris looked at each other and considered it.

“Are you sure?” Iris asked. “What if this is different?”

“It’ll be fine, trust me,” Barry insisted. The computer started to make noise.

“It’s our lucky day. Facial recognition caught Harris at 56th and 7th,” Cisco told him. “I think this is a job for the Flash.”

“Try to apprehend her if you can,” Julian said, tossing a pair of power-dampening handcuffs his way. Barry nodded and sped out of STAR Labs. In a matter of seconds, he was at the intersection and saw a lone middle-aged blonde woman. She blended in perfectly with the rest of the world.

“Ruby Harris!” Barry called. The woman turned around and grinned.

“The Flash,” Ruby called back. “Don’t you normally name your villains? Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, Captain Cold?” Barry fought back a smile at Snart’s name. _The name that Cisco gave him is still ridiculous,_ Barry said to himself.

“I mean, your name is already Ruby. I know you put red into people’s eyes. Seems like a lost cause,” Barry taunted. He knew he needed her to affect him. Ruby clenched her fists.

“I could show you first hand,” she growled. Barry sped toward her. He purposefully backed himself into a corner. “What’s the matter, Flash? Can’t hit a girl?” Barry shook his head.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said. Ruby scoffed.

“Seems about right,” she spat as her gray-blue eyes turned to a deep scarlet. Barry’s vision looked like a red filter had been put over his eyes. He quickly clamped the cuffs on Ruby’s wrists when her eyes returned to normal. Shortly after that, his own vision returned to normal. As expected, he felt fine. Ten minutes later, CCPD was at the scene and Barry returned to STAR Labs.

“Looks like this _is_ different,” Caitlin said after looking over the results of Barry’s brain scan. She had been endlessly teased about not waking up early enough to be at the lab because her phone had died in the middle of the night, leading to her not having an alarm with which to wake up. On the plus side, she seemed very well-rested. “Last time, the activity was in the prefrontal cortex, so you couldn’t control executive function. Now, it’s mostly concentrated on the putamen.”

“And for those who aren’t neurosurgeons?” Joe asked. Caitlin sighed.

“First of all, I’m not a neurosurgeon. Secondly, that’s the part of the brain that controls love and hate. I think she’s bringing out the hatred,” she explained.

“That’s also why it takes a lover’s touch to cure it,” Julian realized. Cisco squinted and frowned.

“Really? You couldn’t have said that in literally any other way?” Cisco asked, thoroughly disgusted. Caitlin snorted. Barry put his wrists forward.

“Cuff me,” he said. “So I can’t run away when I get angry, but also so I don’t have to go to the Pipeline right away. We need to talk about something.” Everyone else nodded, understanding the question that needed to be asked.

_Who are you going to need if the lights don’t work?_

Barry wasn’t dating anyone at the moment. He wasn’t pining over Iris anymore after seeing how happy she was with Eddie. Barry just wanted her to be happy, and if she had that with Eddie, that was fine with Barry. Then again, Barry wasn’t pining over anyone. He’d focused so intensely on being the Flash since Patty that he couldn’t think of anyone. He was bisexual, not like his options were limited. But Iris was in a relationship. Cisco was his best friend, nothing more. Caitlin was too hurt to love anyone herself. Julian was just an asshole.

“Let’s just name random people,” Iris suggested. “It’ll be like elementary school all over again, trying to guess Barry’s crush.” Everyone laughed.

“Julian,” Cisco blurted. Julian groaned.

“Can we keep it outside the group?” he pleaded.

“Yeah, besides you need to have better guesses.” Julian gasped loudly at Barry’s remark, pretending to be offended.

“Oliver Queen?” Iris proposed. Cisco rolled his eyes and Barry shook his head.

“Laurel Lance?” No.

“Raymond Palmer?” Nope.

“Kendra Saunders?” Not a chance.

“Kara?” God, no.

“Leonard Snart?”

With this, everyone but Barry was absolutely dying with laughter. Barry, on the other hand, was frozen as if Snart himself had just shot him with his gun. With everyone else that had been listed, his first instinct was to deny it. But this was different. Barry shook his head, but it went unnoticed. _I can’t have a thing for Snart. He’s a criminal. A thief. I mean, yeah, he looks good. His voice is loud, clear, and smooth and the way my name flows off his tongue is to die for, but… shit._

“Yo, Barry?” Cisco called, waving his hand in Barry’s face. “You okay? We didn’t guess right, did we?” Barry stayed silent. He couldn’t bring himself to say anything. _Why would it matter if they did?!_ Barry felt himself get steadily angrier. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. When they opened, everyone saw the glowing crimson irises. Barry saw the red filter on his vision again.

“Do you hear yourself?! Me, having a thing for Leonard Snart! He doesn’t deserve to be loved!” Barry yelled. Everyone looked at him with fear. They’d known that Barry didn’t like Snart, but he’d never said anything this extreme about _anyone_. Joe slowly walked towards Barry.

“Come on, Barr. Let’s go to the Pipeline and fix this,” he said cautiously. He reached to grab Barry’s arm. When Barry smacked it away, it became apparent that they’d forgotten the most important thing – Barry wasn’t in the power-dampening handcuffs. When Joe made a lunge at Barry, he sped to the other side of the Cortex.

“Are you _that_ stupid, Joe? You think I can’t outrun you?” Barry taunted. Julian had his gun drawn and pointed at Barry. A click could be heard as Julian squeezed the trigger. Nothing happened. Barry laughed bitterly. He unclenched his fist and bullets fell to the floor. “Don’t think I didn’t notice that, Jules.” The computer made a noise as if it had pinged abnormal activity. Barry beat Cisco to it.

“Abnormally cold temperatures at the Central City Museum?” Barry mused. “Snart really is a complete moron, isn’t he?” Before he could be stopped, he was out of STAR Labs.

Despite the team being against Snart, they also had to make sure that Barry didn’t get himself into too much trouble. Barry skidded to a stop in front of the museum. There Snart was, aiming his cold gun at Barry. Cisco noticed that if he fired he’d go to the left of Barry, but Caitlin was able to tell that Snart at least thought he was aiming exactly correctly.

“Ah, Flash!” Snart called. “Always a pleasure!” Barry felt rage surge through him.

“Trust me, this is the last pleasure you’ll ever get! I am _sick_ of your petty attempts to terrorize my city! I’m gonna make sure that you _never_ do it again!” Barry shouted. Snart’s smirk simply deepened.

“Temper, temper, Barry,” he said, clicking his tongue. “We’re getting a little harsh here, aren’t we? What are you going to do, make sure I go to Iron Heights for good this time?” Barry was shaking now.

“I am going to kill you.”

Snart’s grin vanished instantaneously. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. _Barry Allen, the Flash, threatening to kill?_ He noticed a dull red glow in his eyes. He slowly shifted his gun to the right.

“Excuse me?” Snart demanded.

“ _I am going to_ kill _you, Snart!_ This has gone on long enough!” Snart pulled the trigger to his gun as Barry ran to avoid it. He was much faster than Snart, but Snart prided himself on being able to outsmart the Flash. He shot in front of Barry, finally hitting him. Barry yelled out in pain and slowed down, but didn’t fall. Snart walked closer and fired again. The ice pinned Barry to the ground. Barry struggled to phase through it, but he was far too cold. Snart was standing above him now, and he could clearly see Barry’s eyes glowing a brighter red than his suit.

“Don’t bother using the heat in his suit,” Snart said to Cisco, certain he was listening. “I think we both know that he needs to be still. Is there a way that you can let me hear you? I just want to talk. Person who’s concerned for Barry to person who’s concerned for Barry.” After a moment, Snart could hear Cisco’s voice.

“Did you say you were concerned for Barry?”

“Forget it, I don’t want to hear you anymore,” Snart sighed. “But, yes, I am concerned. This red glow in his eyes can’t possibly be a good thing. I prefer their natural green.” Barry felt heat rise to his face in anger. Though, there was a possibility it was because Snart knew what color his eyes were. “Things would certainly be easier without him, yes, but as fun? No, the police don’t give me as much of a challenge as Central City’s own Flash.

“Besides, what would I do without my Scarlet Speedster?” Barry, who was attempting to thrash out of the ice, stopped struggling. _His?_

“My Flash?” Snart got closer and quieter. Barry growled in his face.

“My hero?” Barry could feel his facial expression fall.

“My Barry?” With that, Snart laid his hand on Barry’s arm. Barry blinked rapidly and looked like he was struggling. When his eyes opened again, they had lost the red glow.

“Snart?” Barry breathed. Snart smiled.

“That would be me, Barry.”

“What’s going on? What happened?”

“Barry, you need to come back to STAR Labs. Now,” Cisco’s voice was heard out loud. “Snart…” Cisco let out an audible sigh. “You come, too. And if you so much as _think_ about-”

“Relax, I won’t cause any trouble.”

~

Barry’s mind was scattered from his mind being manipulated. Everything was a blur, but when things settled and he was used to seeing any other color but red, he realized he was sitting down and locked in one of the cells of the Pipeline. And on the other side of the glass was Leonard Snart.

“What are you doing here?” Barry asked with a tone of annoyance in his voice. “I can’t help but feel like this should be the other way around.” Snart laughed. Barry cocked his head. He’d never seen Snart have a look of genuine joy. Barry blushed as he realized how well it suited him. _No, Barry, stop, it’s time to stop. You absolutely cannot be thinking this._

“I’ll have you know that I’ve been good,” Snart said with a wink. “Not to say I haven’t exercised my skills, but I’ve done it in the name of saving the world. I thought I’d make you proud.” And Barry _was_ proud. He had always seen the goodness where everyone else saw evil.

“I’ve always known you were more than a thief, Snart,” Barry admitted. “What exactly happened? I know that we were fighting and I was in some sort of rage, but I don’t remember exactly what happed.” Snart stopped smiling.

“I decided to have a little fun at the museum, but you clearly weren’t having any of it,” he began.

“What do you mean?”

“You… you told me that you were going to kill me.” Barry gasped softly. He didn’t want to believe that he’d said that, but… it was entirely possible.

“Snart…” Barry whispered. “I didn’t mean that, really.”

“I know, Barry. That’s why I actually started aiming at you instead of-” Snart cut himself off. But Barry was on to him.

“Wait, you purposely aim so that you don’t hit me?” Barry questioned. Now Snart could tell _his_ face was turning red.

“I know how much damage it does to you,” Snart murmured. “You always seem to be in so much pain when it hits you. Especially when I know I don’t need to hurt you, I don’t.” Barry slid his hand toward the glass until his fingertips were pressed against it. “But that’s why I had to get you down. I knew that wasn’t you.”

“How?” Barry asked. “I know it would be out of character for me to say that, but-”

“‘Out of character’? Barry, I know I say I see the bad in you, but I honestly don’t. You had the potential. The pain to make anyone be as bad as me, but you took that pain and you turned it into the will to help other people, not the will for revenge. It would have been so much easier not to, but you became a hero. There’s a line between a hero and a vigilante. You are not like the Arrow. You’re so much more, so much better, Barry, _you’re the Flash._ ”

Barry felt a tear run down his cheek. He could swear he was dreaming. Was Leonard Snart really saying these things to _him_? He glanced down, afraid to let him see he was weeping. As he did so, he noticed that Snart had slid to the floor and his fingertips would have touched Barry’s if it weren’t for the glass. He saw a teardrop hit the floor and looked up to see Snart mirroring him.

“S… Len,” Barry breathed. Len forced a laugh.

“What did you call me?”

“Len.”

He continued to laugh, bringing a hand to his face to wipe away the tears from mere seconds earlier. He stood.

“It suits you, you know,” Barry chimed, a weak smile on his face now, too.

“I suppose it does. It sounds better than Snart, although you can tell Cisco I don’t mind the name Captain Cold,” Len said, opening the cell. Barry’s eyebrows shot up.

“They gave you access?” Barry asked, surprised. Even though Len had saved him, he didn’t think Cisco and Caitlin would be as trusting. Len smirked.

“No,” he answered, opening his arms. Barry rolled his eyes and laughed as he ran into Len’s arms, wrapping his own very tightly around Len’s waist.

“What would I do without you?”

“You mean you’re _not_ throwing me in prison?”

“Mm, maybe later. Central City’s boring without you around.”

“Well if you’re feeling bored, give me a call and I’ll be right there to steal something.”

Barry laughed and leaned forward, kissing Len. Len didn’t hesitate to kiss back. It wasn’t long before Barry had his back to the wall. Len was tugging at the hem of Barry’s shirt. Barry wasn’t even aware that he’d changed out of the Flash suit, though that made things easier.

“ _Jesus Christ!_ ”

Len and Barry separated. Cisco and Caitlin were standing right in front of them.

“I’m going to ignore the fact that Barry somehow managed to get out of his cell,” Caitlin began. “Pay up.”

Cisco groaned as he reached for his wallet and pulled out a twenty.

“Damn it, Snart, you couldn’t keep your hands to yourself, could you?”

“What can I say? I’ve got a weakness for Scarlet over here,” Len mused. Barry grinned. Caitlin sighed. Cisco scoffed and pressed the twenty dollars into Caitlin’s open hand. He walked back to the Cortex muttering bitterly about how “of course it happened” and “no wonder Snart’s aiming was off; he was doing it on purpose.”

“Oh, I figured out why it took significant others to calm the victims,” Caitlin said. Both Barry and Len were intrigued. “The putamen. That’s what Harris affected. She made the victims feel hatred, but since it’s the same part of the brain that processes love, being able to feel love made the victims be able to stop being angry. The love was kind of able to override the hate.”

Barry and Len looked at each other and smiled. They knew that better than anyone else.


End file.
